COVID-19 cases surging due to non-compliance of SOPs: Buzdar

LAHORE: The number of novel coronavirus patients increasing due to neglecting the standard operating procedures (SOPs) Punjab chief minister said on Tuesday.

The active cases of coronavirus in province have increased to 2198 as 108 new infections were reported in past 24 hours, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar stated.

In last 24 hours, 12 more patients of the disease died in the province and the overall death toll reached to 2310, he said.

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar stated that the number of coronavirus patients was earlier dropped to a larger extent but in 20 days of October the tally of infections and casualties have increased.

The chief minister appealed citizens to follow the precautionary measures in letter and spirit. The cooperation of citizens is necessary to avoid the second wave of the COVID-19, Buzdar said.

“It will be in the best interest of general public to continue following precautionary measures,” he said. “They should maintain social distancing for protection of their own lives,” the chief minister further said.

After a downward trend of the reported cases of coronavirus in province, the number of cases has again started surging gradually.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 625 fresh infections emerged during 24 hours, lifting the national tally of cases to 324,084.

There are a total of 9,461 active cases of the coronavirus as 307,950 patients have recuperated from the disease.

Thus far, Sindh has reported 141,134 cases, followed by Punjab that reported 101,760 cases while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 38,708, Balochistan 15,704, Islamabad 18,187, Gilgit Baltistan 4,084 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 3,507.